Puppet comic Randy Feltface looked at the freshly painted purple wall behind him with awe during Saturday’s early show at the new Helium Comedy Club in Alpharetta.
“This club just opened a week ago,” said Feltface, a puppet character controlled by Australian comic Heath McIvor, who calls himself the “cocaine Grimace” on stage. “This wall is so nice. Not yet tainted with failed dreams of millions of twisted comedians. It smells like … hope!”
Helium, in a partially empty suburban plaza on Windward Parkway off exit 11 on Ga. 400, shares a parking lot with a Moe’s Southwest Grill, a J. Christopher’s brunch place and a UPS store. The club opened last month and isn’t entirely finished.
Manager Rae Park said an artist will paint an Atlanta skyline mural behind the comics in the coming weeks, covering up the blank wall that was behind Feltface.
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
But Helium is fully staffed and has major comics lined up in the coming weeks, including “The Office” vet Craig Robinson, former “Saturday Night Live” stars Tim Meadows and Kevin Nealon and “Mad TV” alum Aries Spears. Many of the upcoming acts have built followings on social media platforms such as TikTok.
“We want the comics to be very diverse,” co-owner Marc Grossman said. “Men, women, Black, white, Christian, gay. We want everyone to come to the club and enjoy it.”
The main room, which is on four levels to improve sight lines to the main stage, can fit up to 360 people, making it the largest stand-up comedy club space in metro Atlanta. There is also a second room that can fit around 90.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
It’s also the first stand-alone comedy club north of I-285 in metro Atlanta since 2008, when the Funny Farm closed in Roswell.
“It’s a pretty cool space,” said Marshall Chiles, who used to run the Funny Farm and now owns the 74-seat capacity Laughing Skull in Midtown. “They did a great job with it. It’s going to do well. Management knows what they’re doing. Alpharetta could always use more entertainment options.”
Chiles said he helped Grossman by providing a list of quality local comics who can fill the opening slots for the headliners as well as the smaller room.
Grossman, a former options trader who lives outside of Philadelphia, rented the Alpharetta space to add to a portfolio of eight other comedy clubs in Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; Indianapolis; St. Louis; Buffalo, New York; Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Rutherford, New Jersey.
He opened his first Helium in 2005 and has selectively picked out new clubs when opportunities arose. “Being a trader teaches you to make good analytical decisions,” he said. “I use probability. I understand risk and reward.”
Grossman had been eyeing Atlanta since before the pandemic, but it took him a long time to find the right space at the right rental price.
“The landlord gave us a great deal,’ Grossman said. “We are going to drive a lot of traffic there. It was a little further north than I wanted to be, but I started thinking of all these people in this suburban sprawl. And for people up here, this is so much easier than driving downtown or Midtown.”
Indeed, many of the customers who attended Feltface’s early show were thrilled to have this new comedy option.
“This was just a 15-minute drive for us,” said Sandy Springs’ Cadi Woyce, 28, who came with her husband and four other friends. “The space didn’t feel constricted. You could still maneuver around.”
Hunter Rivera of Peachtree City came with his friend, Shelby Valentine, who resides in Dacula and happily drove 40 minutes to see Feltface.
“It was clean and orderly,” Rivera said. “The staff was nice, the booze was good and the sound was great.”
“The place is convenient for me,” Valentine added, comparing Helium to the other club she’s gone to, the Punchline in Buckhead. “It’s also close to Avalon. We dropped by there before the show.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Ruby Setnik, who opened for Feltface, worked the merchandise table between the early and late shows and hopes to work there again.
“I love this club,” she said. “And the chain has a good reputation among comedians. The staff has been great. It’s clean and it’s well built.”
IF YOU GO
Helium Comedy Club, 3070 Windward Plaza, Alpharetta, www.atlanta.heliumcomedy.com
Upcoming shows include Adele Givens (Friday-Sunday), Craig Robinson (Nov. 14-17), Tim Meadows (Nov. 22-24) and Sam Salem (Nov. 29-30).
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